Perseverance and Maturity

Apostle James said that Christians should consider it a joy whenever we face trials of any kind because this tests our faith which develops the perseverance that makes us mature and complete.  Well, this is a good description of my life right now.

In the last month, I've had sick family members, money disappear, demons show up and not feeling well myself.  I think my Heavenly Father is giving me the opportunity to become mature and complete.

While we get an earthly father, he doesn't always know what is best for us, but our Father God always knows and does what we need to grow spiritually.  It is awesome to be learning things for eternity and not just this brief time here.

Happy Father's Day to my Heavenly Father that loves me unconditionally and always does what is best for me.  Thank You for Your Spirit that guides and protects me 24/7!

Jesus Vs. Other Gods

I just finished reading a wonderful book, Jesus Among Other Gods, by Ravi Zacharias.  Mr. Zacharias is one of the leading apologists for the Christian faith but began his life as a Hindu.

The author compares Christianity and what Jesus said to the other major religions, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, pantheism, New Age and Humanism.  All regions cannot be right because each one has a particular way of defining who God is and is not, which then defines its followers’ life purpose.

Christianity is the only religion based on a person that said He was the only way to God and that we can each personally know God and absolute truth.  Jesus Christ did not only teach His message, He was identical with His message because He is God.

Jesus gives His believers a standard of spiritual love to follow that is way above any other religion’s moral requirements.  And along with this high standard, Christians get Jesus Christ’s supernatural help in a close personal relationship with Him.

When Christianity is compared to other religions, Christ and His love is truly a miracle.  Jesus is available to any one, any where at any time for a miraculous life change.

The Lord Prepares Us

The Lord always prepares me for what's to come but doesn't always tell me why I'm getting ready.  This last week I went shopping at the Christian store and left with a bag of World Vision magazines.

Then the Lord told me to bring them to the Wednesday evening study at church.  There I discovered the pastor asking for ideas on how the church could help improve the world.

I was all prepared with my World Vision magazine on its work about bringing clean water to the world and extra ones as handouts for everyone.  World Vision has brought clean water to over 2 billion people but there are still 7800 million people that need it, and this information can be found from its link on my home page web site.

Thank you, Lord, for directing my steps and preparing me to do your good work.  Jesus is available 24/7 for anyone about anything with the supernatural power to solve any problem.

The Biggest Miracle

This past week, I've seen healing and provision miracles.  And there have been lots of trials and tribulations, too.

This reminds me of my favorite book, 90 Minutes In Heaven, that was made into a movie that I recently watched.

It tells the true story of a minister that died in a car accident and 90 minutes later another minister stopped to pray for him, and he came back to life.

This story has many miracles in it, like a visit to heaven, surviving impossible odds, many Christians praying for his recovery, etc.  But the biggest miracle of all was how this man grew spiritually from his experience.

When things go our way, we rarely learn anything or even appreciate it.  But when awful suffering stops us, we have an opportunity for change by beginning or building a relationship with Lord Jesus because He gives us the supernatural support for great improvement.

Spiritual Birthday Gifts

My husband's birthday was this past week and the Lord blessed him with amazing gifts for even more spiritual growth.  He first received a letter about his identity being compromised, then an out-of-state ticket in his name for someone else and the weird problems continued.

Sometimes our gifts are tests for us to pass, so we know our spiritual growth is definite.  Real spiritual growth is an increase in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control under all circumstances.

My husband has significantly grown spiritually this past year, which began in December of 2014, so it was time for testing. The great news is that he passed with flying colors!

There were no dramas but just prayerful problem solving.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your peace that surpasses all understanding and supernatural help for change!

All Humans Are Alike

While I knew God created us all alike, this became obvious to me after advising people around the world.  What a miracle, we all have the same problems and need the same solution.

All humans in this world experience problems to help them grow spiritually, and this growth is evident when we have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  We all make choices every day to be like this or not.

The easiest way to accomplish spiritual growth is when we have supernatural help.  I have done spiritual growth before knowing Jesus and after being with Him.

Before, it was hard work and limiting but, after, it was easy with His supernatural help.  His love, acceptance and guidance is only a prayer away.

Be Unattached

Jesus wants us to travel through this world without being attached to it.  So, I have been working on getting rid of the physical things in my life that I love.

This is a touchy subject for Christians, so I want to clarify what I mean.  When we are attached to physical things, the things become more important than people, being organized, financial responsibility, eating healthy, etc.

Then things become our important relationship, security and comfort, instead of Jesus.  This does not mean we have nothing, but choose very carefully and prayerfully what we allow in our lives, so we do not put obstacles between us and God.

We must put our time and resources into the "things" we take with us into the next life, like love, spiritual growth, doing God's will, truth, etc.  Jesus wants to help us and He's only a prayer away!

My Birthday Gift

Since it was my spiritual birthday as a Christian, I asked the Lord for a gift.  He gave me five dreams to explain how I am doing.

In my first dream, I learned that I am halfway to being a mature Christian.  I asked how I could improve and He answered me in the next dreams.

The next two dreams showed me how I waste my time trying to rescue pets and people that don't want it or need it.  Then in the fourth dream, I am surround by people at a party that want to hear about Jesus and love Him.

So I ask how I can have this in my life.  In the last dream, I see a body in a tomb and am told that I must die to myself.

What an awesome birthday gift!  Spiritual growth is only a prayer away!

Do Not Judge

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He gives us what we need for spiritual growth.  Sometimes we need healing and sometimes we need discipline.

The Lord uses me to help some of the Christians being disciplined.  And since I've been there many times myself, I'm very sympathetic.

Without the Lord's loving correction, we would continue hurting ourselves and others.  A very common sin that we get disciplined for is judging others.

Over and over in the Bible, God tells us not to judge others but when we love this sin more than we love Him, this will continue.  Supernatural improvement is available through prayer for anyone that sincerely wants truth.

The Biggest Miracle Is Love

For the past month I have been talking with Christians about how they want to give up; on each other, neighbors, their children, themselves, etc.  

The solution to these problems is easy - put God first more.

When we put our Lord first, we get the love, peace, joy, strength, patience, direction and self control to love everyone else.  Christ commands us to love all people, no matter how mean they are or what they do and to never give up on them.

This unconditional love of everyone is only possible from a close personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  When we put this relationship first, we receive the miraculous power to endure all things and persevere in love.

Spiritual Growth

As this year ends, it's important to look back and check for spiritual growth.  Humans are created to grow spiritually, and Christians can recognize this when we become better disciples of Christ.

When we are growing spiritually, it feels awful because it requires us to leave our comfort zone.  In the past year, I've preached and taught more, taken on Christian leadership positions and learned to sing.

The biggest awareness I've had from my experiences is to trust the Lord.  He knows me better than I know myself, always has my best interests at heart and will not let me fail, no matter how unprepared I feel.

This supernatural Teacher is only a prayer away!

Finding Jesus

While my daughter was in the hospital recovering from liver failure, one of her nurses especially stood out from the rest with her supportive, loving attitude.  When someone asked what her secret was, she gave one name, Jesus.

 

My daughter said I was like that and everyone in the room turned to look at me.  I, too, gave the name of Jesus.

 

We would be lost without Him and I love pointing out His excellent leadership.  This supernatural guidance is only a sincere prayer away!

Tribulations Happen For A Reason

Whenever we experience trials and tribulations, it is important to understand, “why,” because this is our opportunity for spiritual growth.  After my daughter was conscious and coherent from her near death, I asked her if she knew why this happened and she said, “yes.”

 

She explained to me how she wasn’t taking care of herself nor listening to God and He wanted her attention.  She stressed that He has it in a big way now!

 

In her excitement about living for Jesus, she emphasized that she was doing better than ever before in her life.  Out of our difficulties and struggles can come miraculous spiritual growth and a closer walk with our Lord.

 

A close personal relationship with our Lord Jesus gives us supernatural love, peace, joy, comfort, support, acceptance, protection, strength and security.  This awesome power through Jesus is only a prayer away!

God Encourages

Almost exactly one month ago, I was feeling so wonderful that I asked the Lord to use me more and He said, yes!  Unfortunately, I did not pass my test and this month I needed encouragement.

Last Sunday night, the guest minister at my church called me up to the front for prayer.  He said that the Lord wanted me to know that He sees what I"m going through and wants to encourage me.

Spiritual growth is the hardest job anyone can do because it's so easy to regress and so very difficult to advance.  Success takes determined tenacity, unswerving faith and a desire for truth above all else.

As Christians, we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for help.  

Of course, this supernatural assistance is available for anyone who wants this relationship and is only a prayer away!

The Best Miracle

In the last two blogs I've been sharing my struggle on giving up control to Jesus.  After I failed Him the first time, I asked for another chance to be directed again but failed the second time, too.

So then when I repented, I asked to be slowly taught on how to follow His spontaneous direction.  I'm fairly good with planned directions but the immediate requests I refused to do until I had thought about it, which meant the opportunities had passed.

For this last week, I've seen people paying for strangers' purchases when they ran short and had people tell me how important this is to do.  The Lord is teaching and helping me to change into a more giving, loving person.

The best miracle is when we let go of our selfish, fearful, angry, worldly, sinful behavior for spiritual growth.  

Holy teaching for spiritual growth is only a prayer away!

Jesus as Lord

On my mission to relinquish control of my life over to Lord Jesus, I'm still struggling.  After I didn't leave my exercise class two weeks ago when the Lord told me, I have asked for forgiveness and repented.

Since then I've asked Him to teach me and try me again.  Well, He did and I failed again.

I was standing behind a woman with two small children at a gas station while she was buying some food but couldn't afford the milk.  The Lord told me to pay for her groceries.

I argued that this was my gas money for the week and refused to follow His direction once again.  Of course after I thought about this and the opportunity had passed, I felt foolish and repented once again.

While working for the Lord, I'm fine with following His structured directions but this spontaneous stuff is a new challenge for me, which I'll eventually overcome with His help.  

Supernatural help is only a prayer away!

God's Timing

Sometimes I get an immediate answer to my prayers and other times it takes awhile.  God's timing is based on spiritual necessity and immediacy.

In the morning this week, I asked the Lord what to wear and got answered.  Then I prayed about what to do at church, I was told to preach and the Pastor contacted me the next day to do that.

Sometimes I ask and forget about them until months or years later when my prayers are answered.  The Lord always hears our prayers but sometimes we ask for things that are spiritually bad for us.

Prayers that always get answered are the ones for spiritual growth because we are created to grow in holy love and wisdom for an eternal life with our Heavenly Father.  

Spiritual growth is only a prayer away!

Celebrate Spiritual Growth

After working on an issue, I will get a test to see if it's resolved.  When my husband and I quit going to art shows because it was too much work for too little pay, we were frustrated and angry.

Now years later, we felt God told us to try again.  However, we did things different this time.

We prayed and included His direction in our plans.  The Lord blessed us with good weather, tasty food, friends, a profit and, best of all, the opportunity to witness about Jesus.

It feels good to resolve past issues and celebrate spiritual growth!  Supernatural counseling is only a prayer away.

Spiritual Growth

It is easy for humans to fool themselves into thinking they are improving spiritually.  All people, including Christians, cannot objectively know themselves.

But as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit to convict us for spiritual growth.  Almost every day I pray for this advising to become a better person.

As a result, I have learned about my selfishness, lack of unconditional love, desire for control, lust after power, etc.

While these shortcomings were difficult to face, I couldn't live in denial because Christ requires improvement.

With supernatural lessons and advising, I work on obtaining spiritual maturity.  This maturity will be evident by the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness and self control.

All Christians should strive to be actual disciples of Jesus Christ.  With the Holy Spirit, supernatural help is only a prayer away.

Christ's Peace & Strength

In my ministry, the Lord sends me people in distress to help.  Some of them appreciate this spiritual advising and some do not.

No matter what the results, I experience miracles.  It's a miracle when people spiritually grow and if they become hostile, I pray for the miracle of Christ's peace and strength.

Jesus never lets me down.  He sends me His peace and strength quickly and my feelings miraculously change within a minute or two.

This ministry would be impossible without Jesus and His 24/7 supernatural help.  The peace and strength of Jesus Christ that surpasses all understanding is only a prayer away!